Former Cincinnati Bengal offensive tackle and NFL hall of famer Anthony Munoz is the latest former great athlete to jump into the agent business, opening Cincinnati-based Integrity First Management and signing several NFL draft prospects.
Among the clients signed for representation in this year's NFL draft are Miami (Ohio) offensive guard Jacob Bell, Michigan offensive guard Joe Tate, Tennessee defensive back Jabari Greer, Miami (Ohio) defensive end Phil Smith and Michigan tight end Andy Mignery, said Munoz, chairman and CEO of Integrity.
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Munoz formed the company with Ohio businessmen
Gregg Darbyshire,
Konrad Kircher and
Jeff Holtmeier. Kircher, a Cincinnati attorney, took the NFLPA agent test last summer, was certified and will handle all legal affairs, including contract negotiations, for the new company.
Munoz said he does not plan to get certified and instead will serve as a mentor for the players.
The agent business is full of former players, especially in football. Tom Condon and Kendall Kremer were teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs before becoming partners running IMG's major football practice. Veteran agent Ralph Cindrich is a former NFL player. And former NBA player Norm Nixon is an NFL player agent.
But Hall of Fame athletes or future hall of famers haven't always found the agent business easy going. Former Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow recently told SportsBusiness Journal that he got out of the agent business after a short time because of the rampant unethical behavior.
Defensive end great Reggie White quit the agent business a few years ago after working for a few weeks with veteran agent James "Bus" Cook. White said he was disgusted by other agents' behavior during recruiting season. "It makes you want to put your hands around people's necks," White said in a previous interview with SportsBusiness Journal.
One former NFL quarterback, Warren Moon, may be in the agent business for a while. Moon, a vice president in the agency of his longtime agent, Leigh Steinberg, helped to recruit Miami (Ohio) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, projected by some prognosticators to be the second quarterback taken in this year's NFL draft. Like Munoz, Moon is acting as a mentor to the player clients that the firm, Steinberg, Tollner & Moon, is recruiting.
Munoz said his new firm will take on football players at every position but will specialize in linemen. "It would be crazy not to go after offensive linemen with my background," Munoz said.
The new agency may already be in line to sign one of the top offensive linemen for next year's draft — Munoz's son, Michael Munoz, starting tackle and team captain for the University of Tennessee. Munoz said his son, who is 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, is "bigger and stronger" than the senior Munoz was at the same age.
Anthony Munoz was the third overall pick in the 1980 NFL draft. During his NFL playing days, Munoz was represented first by agent Michael Trope and then by Howard Slusher. Trope and Slusher no longer work as agents.
Munoz said the potential of being able to represent his son was one reason he considered going into the agent business. He said he has heard all kinds of horror stories about unethical recruiting by agents and took a long time before making a decision to go into the business.
"I was hesitant to get into it," he said. "But I really believe there is some room to do it right."
IMPACT SPORTS SIGNS TOP LB PROSPECTS: Impact Sports Management has signed highly regarded University of Miami linebackers Jonathan Vilma and D.J. Williams for representation in this year's NFL draft.
Agents Tony Fleming and Mitch Frankel will represent the players. Williams was ranked No. 19 and Vilma was ranked No. 29 on a mock draft on nfldraftcountdown.com last week. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. had Vilma ranked No. 12 and Williams No. 19 on a recent mock draft.
OCTAGON BEEFS UP GOLF DIVISION: Octagon has hired former PGA Tour player Jimmy Johnston and former Ben Hogan Co. tour relations manager Jim Curran as client managers.
Curran and Johnston will share the responsibilities for recruiting, maintaining player relationships and overseeing all aspects of day-to-day client management duties under the leadership of Octagon Golf senior vice president Mac Barnhardt.
Johnston already has signed PGA Tour player Wes Short. Curran has signed PGA Tour player Dennis Paulson.
Octagon represents 43 professional golfers. Top clients include Davis Love III, Jonathan Byrd and Beth Daniel.
Contact Liz Mullen with agent and labor news at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
